Thai Airways International passengers faced delayed departures and long waits for checked luggage at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport on Sunday, September 27, with disruption continuing for a second day.

Suvarnabhumi Airport said flooding had prevented some Thai Airways ground-handling staff from reaching work, while faults affecting baggage transport carts had added to the backlog.

The problems began on Saturday, September 26, and affected both travellers leaving Bangkok and those arriving on Thai Airways flights. Some departing services were delayed, while passengers at baggage reclaim waited longer than usual and luggage from several flights remained outstanding.

Flooding and equipment faults behind backlog

The airport, which is operated by Airports of Thailand (AOT), said flooding in several areas had made journeys to work difficult for Thai Airways ground staff. This resulted in insufficient personnel being available for baggage handling duties.

At the same time, faults involving some baggage carts disrupted the movement of luggage around the airport. The combined staffing and equipment problems affected the airline's handling of departing flights and the unloading of baggage from arrivals, Suvarnabhumi said.

Airport seeks extra Thai Airways staff

Suvarnabhumi has asked Thai Airways to urgently increase its ground staff, repair the faulty carts and supply replacement equipment to speed up baggage unloading and transport.

Airport authorities are also working with the airline to provide baggage-status details on information screens and through regular announcements in reclaim areas. Staff have been placed at passenger service points and baggage belts to offer information and assistance.

Suvarnabhumi said it would continue to monitor the disruption and coordinate with Thai Airways in an effort to address the staff shortage and restore normal services as quickly as possible.

Picture courtesy of The Nation

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28 September 2026

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This only mentions Thai Airways. Does anyone know whether the many other airlines flying into the airport were also affected, since they would presumably face the same issues? I was under the impression that several different contractors do baggage handling at BKK, but please correct me if I'm wrong about that.

This isn't an isolated incident, though it seems more extreme than past ones. I remember having to wait two hours for my TG bags one time during a rainstorm, and another time the bags came out completely soaked through after landing during rain. Oddly enough, I've never had bags delayed by rain at any other airport 🤷

5 minutes ago, khunjeff said:

Oddly enough, I've never had bags delayed by rain at any other airport 🤷

Have you ever flown into other airports during a rain storm resulting in flooding that affected the ground staff's ability to get to work ?

22 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Have you ever flown into other airports during a rain storm resulting in flooding that affected the ground staff's ability to get to work ?

I wasn't talking about the situation this weekend, when the rain was prolonged and really did prevent staff from getting to the airport. I was referring to my personal experience on the two other occasions that I mentioned, when there were more typical storms dumping a lot of rain in a short period of time. And yes, I have flown into other airports during similar weather.

I was in HK Airport during a HK Typhoon 8, with flights delay, no transport to airport, baggage delays... etc

It was crazy.. the WORSE experience was - the toilets!!!! Leave this to your imagination of the Toilet conditions of hundreds/Thousand trapped in an airport ... yucks ... So I do expect Thailand to be worse

You really need to be organised:

• Dedicated website for flight status - Airport need to do this

• Dedicated traffic site for jammed or flooded areas

• Dedicated hourly update on situation - either on government official emergency channels - if government don't do it - the news agencies should do it

• Dedicated website for Tourist update - whether through Government Tourism Ministry or Airlines or hotel groups.

All communication should be in English and local language. I note that some of the above is/are lacking in Bangkok..

Hope they learn and put their new tourist tax to good use..

So, stay safe - everyone - dont be trapped if possible - travel and keep alert on news

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by NemoH

I arrived by a Thai Airways International flight at Suvarnabhumi on Saturday evening. I t was delayed 4 hours. I missed my domestic connection. The Thai Airline staff were fantastic. There were so many people affected. After around 3 hours I was booked on the next flight for Sunday morning. Taken to a lovely hotel and picked up the following morning. The domestic flight in the morning was also delayed. When I arrived at my my final destination my luggage was still at Suvarnabhumi. The staff said they would deliver it to me when it arrived. I got a call to say it would arrive by taxi at 11pm and it did. Under the circumstances I think all the staff did an excellent job. There were quite a few very angry people and moaning at the staff achieved nothing.

The baggage delays were happening before the floods, which are now being used as a convenient excuse to mask a more serious issue – presumably equipment or software faults. I flew in on Wednesday evening on Vietnam Airlines. The luggage took 1.5 hours to get from the plane to the carousel (longer than the flight). Multiple carousels showed warning signs about "baggage delayed".

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by Robert Oi

I left BKK yesterday, I was meant to depart at 7.30am Thai international but didnt leave till 2.30pm a 6 hr delay. Initially it was a hr delay then departure kept being pushed out by the hr. There was no communication as to what the cause was just told delayed.

1 hour ago, barmatt said:

I left BKK yesterday, I was meant to depart at 7.30am Thai international but didnt leave till 2.30pm a 6 hr delay. Initially it was a hr delay then departure kept being pushed out by the hr. There was no communication as to what the cause was just told delayed.

Sounds about right. When I use to travel a lot, I use to get the usual communication " Flight XYZ" has been delayed, sorry for your inconvenience". Unfortunately part of the woes of having to travel to work. Delays really suck!

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by riverhigh

Give em a break, ground staff are paddling to work in washing up bowls...now there's dedication